Protector in the Shadows
by Goldenbrook15
Summary: A Gotham without its Dark Knight is a dead city, as Bruce Wayne comes to learn after being unexpectedly pulled into another universe on one of his nightly patrols as Batman. Well, this is going to be fun.
1. Prologue

**Protector in the Shadows**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or anything relating to the Batman and I have no idea who does, so don't get mad at me. It should be obvious.**

 **Yes, yes, I found a new obsession. Who can blame me though, Batman is amazing!**

 **This is going to be a combination of** **The Batman** **from DC Comics and the movies** **Batman Begins** **and** **The Dark Knight** **. Just as a notice, I will probably do a lot of things differently than the movies because I have not seen all of the second one. This is an alternate universe, though, so it doesn't really matter.**

 **Note: this is not one of my top priority stories so updates will be few and far between. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy!**

 _A Gotham without its Dark Knight is a dead city, as Bruce Wayne comes to learn after being unexpectedly pulled into another universe on one of his nightly patrols as Batman. Well, this is going to be fun._

 **Prologue**

 _A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you can make yourself become something more than a man, if you can devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely._

 _Which is?_

 _A legend, Mr. Wayne._

 _-_ Batman Begins

Seven year old Bruce shivered as he watched the people on stage spin and leap in their black costumes. It reminded him too much of the bats that he had encountered the day he fell into the old well. His hands trembled as he tucked them under his arms, trying to hide his fear from his parents.

He knew that he shouldn't feel ashamed of his fear but he was. Who else was afraid of bats? No one, that's who. The people on stage weren't even pretending to be bats . . . they just reminded him of them.

He could still remember how their little claws felt as they crawled over him or their leathery wings as they swarmed around him. He had been so, so scared of what was going to happen. It was almost like he had been drowning in the sound and darkness, feeling like he would never make it out.

Unable to hold it in any longer Bruce turned to his father with pleading eyes, "Dad?" he whispered softly.

Thomas Wayne blinked for a moment and looked down at his son in surprise, "What is it Bruce?" he asked kindly.

Bruce shook his head, "I-I- can we go? Please?"

Thomas glanced at the actors and understand lit up his eyes as he nodded and turned to his wife, Martha, "Come on, we're going, Martha."

The three stood up, though Bruce was blushing slightly. He knew how bad this must look for them, getting up in the middle of the play, but he really couldn't take it any more, he needed to get out, to feel safe. When the reached the back door and let it close behind them Martha turned to her husband with a questioning look.

"What's wrong Thomas?" she asked with concern.

Thomas shrugged, glancing in Bruce's direction for a second before tucking his hands into his pockets, "I just needed some fresh air. Come on, let's go home."

Martha sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing a diversion when she saw one, but didn't comment.

"Come on Bruce," Martha said, holding out her hand for him to take.

Bruce smiled slightly and happily took the hand, glad to be away from the bat like actors. They continued their walk down the street with little interruption until he saw someone approach from the side.

The other man was dressed in shabby clothing and there was a bulge in his pocket. Bruce dropped back, uneasy, his hand slipping from his mother's. For a moment she glanced back at him and then the stranger's voice echoed through the street.

"Give me your wallet, or I'll shoot!" the man said, his eyes wide as he pointed a shinny, new gun and Bruce's parents, both who froze at the sight of the weapon, "Now!"

"O-ok. Don't panic, we're hurrying," Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, dropping it to the ground at the man's gesture.

The stranger's eyes flickered to the pearl necklace that Martha was wearing, "The necklace too."

"Now see here–" Thomas said angrily, not about to give up the gift that he had gotten for his wife.

Before he could finish the man darted forward and made a grab for the necklace. Martha screamed, pulling back, and the gun went off. Thomas, seeing the lunge, had jumped in front of his wife at the last moment and intercepted the bullet meant for her. He fell with a gasp. The gun shot a second time and Martha's cry of anguish was suddenly cut off.

Bruce rushed forward, "Mom! Dad!" he dropped next to his fallen parents.

His mother wasn't moving but his dad was still gasping for breath. They locked eyes for a second and Bruce felt his father squeeze his hand one last time before the light left his eyes.

A soft click made Bruce look up, though tears were clouding his vision. The barrel of the gun was pointed straight for him. He couldn't bring himself to care. His parents had just been murdered in front of him, and he didn't want to accept it. He didn't want to live a life without them in it.

"It would be a shame to kill someone so young," the man muttered, his eyes glinting with insanity, and then his features hardened, "but as they say, _no witnesses, no one to tell on you_."

The gun fired for the third time and the last of the Wayne family fell, dead before he hit the ground.

 **Review?**


	2. Chapter 1

**Protector in the Shadows**

 **Disclaimer: refer to previous chapter.**

 **I'm guessing not a lot of people look at one chapter, less than a thousand word stories so I decided to put up this chapter today. Maybe I'll actually get a review this time . . .**

 **Chapter 1**

 _"Your just one man?"_

 _"Now were two."_

 _"We?"_

-Batman Begins

"He's here!"

Gunshots shattered the night as the panicked thugs shot at whatever moved. Bullets ricocheted off of the walls, sending sparks into the air. Through it all, the object of their fear never appeared.

The echo of the gunshots faded after several seconds as they waited for something, anything, to move.

Angrily, one of the other thugs hissed softly, "Where is he?"

"I knew I saw something!" the first snapped back, too rattled to take his eyes from the shadows.

"Well, stop seeing things Johnny! The gunshots will have alerted the police by now and it looks like you didn't see nothing, again!" the other thug growled back and the rest of them were glaring at 'Johnny' now as well, "Besides, why would the Bat come after us if he has bigger fish to fry?"

Johnny snarled, "Don't you know? The big crazies are all in Arkham, locked up at the moment. Right now, _we are the big fish in the pond_!"

There was silence for a moment as the information penetrated their thick heads. It hadn't occurred to them before, but now they were shaking in their boots.

"So," one of the quieter thugs began, his voice trembling slightly, "it's actually very likely that the Bat will come for us?"

"Considering our shipment? _Yes,"_ Johnny said, his eyes darting from one patch of shadows to the next.

"Oh."

The thugs looked at each other, wondering what they were going to do now. Should they move out of the protective circle they had formed, even though it would do little good against a foe like the Batman, or should they stay there and wait for something to happen?

The light above them flickered and then shattered into a hundred sparks, leaving the area around them in total darkness, perfect for a bat. Just feet from where they were the peace of metal that had hit the light bulb clattered to the ground, reflecting dimly against the ground in the shape of a bat.

"Oh shoot . . ."

There was a rustle of cloth as something dropped down from the ceiling and landed in the center of their circle. One man screamed as he saw the bright, white eyes of what could only be the Batman turn in his direction. He never saw the punch that knocked him out in the darkness.

The thugs broke from the circle, running in every direction as they tried to escape. When it came to the Batman it was every man for himself. No one was safe from something that couldn't be human.

One by one they fell. The second man went down with a gasp as he felt something heavy wrap around his arms and legs, making him trip and fall, hitting his head and going out cold. Another got slapped across the face with an elbow as he ran the wrong direction, being unable to see in the darkness. The Fourth tried to shoot at where he heard the most sound, but was rewarded for his efforts by getting his gun yanked out of his hand and knocked over the head with it.

In the darkness the bat could not be seen, could not be touched, could not be harmed. In the darkness, the thugs were the prey.

The last thug managed to get partway down a side ally when he realized that he couldn't hear anything from where he had come from. His hands shook with fear as he clutched at his gun, finger twitching on the trigger.

The rustle of fabric had his shooting blindly into the dark. His eyes were wide as he tried to see the one hunting him.

 _"Where are you!"_ the thug yelled at the top of his lungs, though he didn't know what good it would do.

 _"Right here,"_ the rough, gravely growl couldn't belong to a human.

The thug spun around and his eyes met the emotionless white ones belonging to the Batman. It was the last thing he saw before he descended into unconsciousness.

Bruce Wayne, dressed as the Batman, dropped silently to the ground next to the thug and began searching his vest pockets. Finding what he was looking for he pulled out a small slip of paper which he quickly unfolded and scanned.

Pressing his hand to his ear he spoke softly into his communicator, "You getting this Alfred?"

"Yes, Master Bruce, the information is being sent to the Gotham Police right this moment," the accented voice of his butler crackled through the ear piece.

Bruce examined the line of names with a frown, though it was one that rarely left his face now days, "There are more than we thought."

"Aren't there always, Master Bruce?" Alfred retorted from the other end, "It's getting early; are you planning on coming back any time soon, sir?"

Bruce winced slightly at the butlers accusing tone. His late nights were something that exasperated Alfred to no end. The older man would much rather have his charge safely back in the manor, preferably in a nice bed, not out on the streets dressed as a bat and beating up criminals so that they could be taken in by the police.

It made Bruce feel kind of guilty for putting his oldest friend through this, but he knew that he couldn't stop. Gotham needed Batman just as much as he did, and so long as the city needed him then Bruce would be there, ready to protect his home.

"One more round Alfred," he compromised, "then I'll go straight to the Bat Cave."

"Oh, very well sir," Alfred sighed, "but do be careful, I don't want to be stitching up any more knife wounds today."

Again, Bruce felt guilty, but pushed it down and tucked the piece of paper into a small plastic bag for evidence, placing it in one pocket of his utility belt. The thug was quickly dragged back to the others and tied up with them where the police could easily find them.

Seconds later there was a whoosh as the grappling gun shot up into the sky, taking Bruce with it. The police would arrive ten minutes later to a bunch of terrified, tied up criminals and several boxes of illegal weapons, no sign of the Batman.

Bruce swept from rooftop to rooftop, unseen by anyone below. The darkness was his element and it was in the darkness that he felt the safest. It was strange, he reflected, as a child he had been terrified of both bats and the darkness, now he couldn't seem to get enough.

There was one block left before he had to head back. It was quiet, something that Bruce was grateful for. He needed his sleep as he had a big meeting early the next day that he couldn't miss.

Bruce leaped from the building down toward the ally, opening his cape and feeling it stiffen into the custom made wings that slowed his fall into a gentle glide. He cast one last glance at the ground, an uneasy feeling shivering up his spine, though he could not pinpoint why. All of the extremely insane criminals had been locked away and there had been no report of a break out, the streets were clear for the moment, and it was nearing morning. By all means he should be done for the night.

But the feeling persisted.

"Master Bruce," Alfred's voice suddenly spoke into his ear, sounding worried, "I've detected an unknown energy signature just ahead of you."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, looking at the empty air in front of him, angling his wings to slow him further. He couldn't see anything but that didn't mean that something wasn't there.

"What kind of signature, Alfred?" Bruce asked, waiting for Alfred to give him more information.

Only static answered him.

"Alfred? Alfred!" Bruce called urgently.

Something wasn't right.

There was a crackle as the air around him was suddenly full with the hissing of energy. Bruce felt his eyes widen as he tried to swerve out of the way of whatever it was. It looked almost like he was in the middle of a lightning storm. Several bolts of energy hit his wings, but didn't seem to do more than send zaps of light over them.

The ball of light pulsed as he tried to get out of the way, becoming much larger than he could avoid, and he was sent spiraling head first into it.

Seconds later it vanished, leaving no trace that the Batman had ever been there.

0~o~0

"Are you sure this will work?" Commissioner Gordon asked, his voice tiered and defeated.

Jackson Howl, a world renowned scientist, shook his head slightly, "This has never been tested before, we have no idea if it will do what we want or not."

"So we could just be summoning someone worse than the one we have?" Gordon sighed.

Jackson frowned as he punched in a few more numbers. The watching police felt shivers go up their spines as the machine hummed to life, "Yes and no. This machine is designed to pull someone who has the power to defeat Joker from a parallel universe, and who possibly already has; whether that person is on the police force or someone worse than the Joker that we already have is undetermined."

"Remind me why we are doing this again," one of the police muttered and Jackson shot him a glare.

"Do you want to be Joker Bait, Richards?" Jackson asked politely, his eyes hard, "No? Well, there you go. _We_ can't outsmart the Joker, so we can only hope that this other person will be able to help."

Gordon nodded, taking in a steadying breath, "Do it, Doctor Howl."

Jackson glanced in the commissioner's direction for a moment, hesitating slightly, and then pulled the switch.

Immediately the machine began humming louder, almost rattling as, between the three arms of metal, a glow began to pulse. Mutters echoed through those watching as the police shifted nervously. The power built until everyone there could feel their hair standing on end from the amount of electricity in the air.

The controls began to spark as the ball grew larger, a pulse of light against the darkness of the night. Several of the police stepped back, the pressure building. With one final pulse the ball flashed so bright that it left all of them temporarily blinded.

Commissioner Gordon was the first to recover. Looking in the direction where the ball of light had been he could only see darkness. He frowned, stepping closer, and wondered if something had gone wrong.

And then something shifted, groaning slightly. A shadow which a moment before had seemed to be a part of the ground shifted and stood. The figure was tall and imposing, something that could strike fear in even the most hardened of hearts. A black cloak wrapped around and even darker, humanoid body.

Narrowed, inhuman, white eyes turned in his direction as a gravely voice growled, _"You'd better have a good explanation for this, Gordon."_

 **Review? Pretty please with longer chapters on top?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Protector in the Shadows**

 **Disclaimer: refer to prologue.**

 **Chapter 2**

 **II**

 _"My boss has been missing for two days. Which, in this town, means I should probably start by looking at the bottom of the river."_

 **-** Batman Begins

 **II**

They had tried everything, exhausted every resource, to fight back against the ever growing criminals. They had even started to succeed when Gordon had been made commissioner.

Then something changed. Suddenly they weren't just fighting against your average crime bosses and street criminals; they were encountering something much more intimidating.

It had started with the first attempted destruction of Gotham by an unknown and unidentified group of people. A toxin had been put into the water and then sent into the air, causing mass illusions and unwavering fear. If the train that held the device causing the water to evaporate into the air had made it to WayneTower then all would have been lost and Gotham would have been destroyed, tearing itself apart from inside out.

Ironically, the device never made it there. The tracks were not being cared for like they had been back when the Wayne family had been alive and over time had started to decay. The shaking of the ground as well as the heavy weight of the speeding train had caused one of the weaker pillars to collapse, sending both the train and the device plummeting to the ground. The device was destroyed but the people who had planned the attack had vanished.

Gotham had had a few short weeks of peace after that, as if the city was holding its breath. The attack had been both unexpected and unprepared for. There had been no warning and it terrified them to realize that, if not for the weak pillar on the tracks they would all be dead.

That was only the first attack, but it certainly wasn't the last.

A new breed of villains started to appear, seemingly from nowhere. They were different from the average criminal, using brains over brawn and wearing masks to hide their identity. They ranged from skilled thieves to insane clowns who liked to blow up things for no other reason than that they wanted to.

Joker was the worst of them all. His face permanently stained white and his own followers deathly afraid of him, his goal in life was to make everyone 'smile', just like he was always smiling.

Just to say, his definition of _funny_ wasn't like that of a normal person.

After the villains had started to appear the police force had been forced to send for help. The help they got, however, didn't work. The city was given up for lost and any remotely sane person fled, leaving the city to rot.

Too bad most of the citizens who had grown up there all of their lives were too stubborn to leave. Gordon was one of those, and he hadn't been about to give up on his home city just yet. He knew that there was a solution out there, just out of their reach, and they just had to find it.

Hence the situation they were in now.

The machine had been sketchy at best. No one knew if it would actually work but they knew that they had to at least try.

It was meant to pull someone who could defeat the super-villain that they could not, someone who had probably already had in their world.

Gordon had been expecting a police officer, maybe even himself, to come out of the portal. They had all been ready for someone who they knew, possibly someone from the city that had never stepped up in this timeline to save the day.

What they hadn't expected, and maybe they should have, was the masked bat like figure that stood before them with a cold, hard gaze, completely unconcerned with being surrounded by almost the entire police force.

 _"You'd better have an explanation for this, Gordon."_

The voice of the man (was he really just a man . . . or was he something else entirely?) was even more terrifying than his appearance. It was dark, gravely, and hard to make out, but every word was perfectly clear. Combined with his dark figure, still draped mostly in the shadows, the sound of his voice made most of the police officers reach for their weapons.

A second after the being had spoken Commissioner Gordon registered what he had said.

"Y-you know who I am?" Gordon asked, stunned. They way that the being had phrased it was almost like they had known each other, though he was perfectly sure he would remember meeting someone who dressed up as a bat.

The white eyes narrowed even more and the slightly relaxed posture suddenly stiffened. A cold wind swept over the rooftop at the moment as they realized that they were dealing with something that could, potentially, be a lot worse then the Joker ever was.

 _"Who are you?"_ the figure said, grabbing the sides of his cloak as he glared direction at Gordon.

Commissioner Gordon wasn't exactly sure what to say but he decided to go with the truth, "James Gordon, Commissioner of the Gotham City Police, and you are?"

The grip on the cape tightened, _"If you were really James Gordon then you would know who I was."_

Gordon felt his eyebrow twitch, "Well, I don't, and I _am_ who I say I am."

 _"You may look like the Commissioner but I know that you are not him,"_ the figure abruptly moved and all the guns were suddenly pointed at where he had been a moment before. He dodged between them, moving like water and taking them down with little to no effort, leaving unconscious but unharmed officers behind him. His path led him to the edge of the hundred story building where he crouched, undisturbed by the wind that tore hungrily at his cape and the darkness that made his eyes seem to glow. Turning back to them he spoke one last time, _"When I find out what has happened I'll be back. You'd better hope you have no part in this."_

Gordon felt his eyes widen as the being jumped from his perch into the air and plunged downward. He, along with several of his officers, ran to the edge to see what had happened.

There was no one there.

Distantly Gordon heard the flutter of cloth and looker outward, his breath catching as he watched a large, bat-like shape swoop out into the night on a pare of near silent wings.

Whoever that had been, they couldn't be human.

0~o~0

Bruce angled his wings into a slow glide and landed silently on a shadowed rooftop. His mind was in turmoil and he had no idea what had happened.

He had been sent spiraling through a tunnel of light only to find himself landing on a hard roof surrounded by the police force and James Gordon.

A James Gordon who had no idea who he was.

One thing was clear, something had gone horribly, terribly wrong and he had no idea how to fix it, or even what it was. The man he had seen sure looked like the commissioner. He talked like him too, but Bruce didn't understand it. Gordon acted like he had never seen the Batman before.

And that scared him. What could make Gordon and an entire police force, who had been after his blood for weeks now, not remember him? He didn't know, but he was going to find out.

Carefully pressing the signal on his belt to call the Batmobile Bruce settled down to wait. After a few minutes of silence his frown deepened and he pressed the button again. There was no response, from the gadget or from the car.

A feeling of dread seeping through him Bruce shot his grappling hook and swung out into the air. He had to get back to the BatCave. First he looses contact with Alfred and then everyone around him doesn't remember him.

He didn't know what was going on but he was going to find out, and if the man that claimed he was Gordon wasn't, he would learn that messing with the Batman was never a good idea.

The trip across the city took less than thirty minutes, though it would have been shorter with the Batmobile. He kept to the shadows, not feeling like being seen again tonight. The moment that he reached the town limits and came within sight of where WayneMansion was supposed to be Bruce felt his breath freeze in his throat.

Where WayneMansion used to be . . . was a pile of burned out rubble.

 _"No . . ."_ this couldn't be happening. He had left only hours ago and the security on his mansion would have alerted him if there had been something wrong.

His feet took him up the hill though his mind was protesting as he kneeled down and ran his hands through the ashes. Impossibly, the damage was weeks old, possibly months. There was no smoke in the air and the ashes were colder then they would have been if the fire had been hours ago.

Bruce felt his body shudder. He didn't know what had happened. The fire that had burned down his mansion had been several months ago but he'd had it rebuilt. The remains here looked like no one even cared to come clean up the damage.

A suspicion started to grow in Bruce's mind, something so crazy he was hesitant to believe it.

He had fallen through a portal with unknown energy readings. Gordon had no idea who he was. His car wouldn't respond and his mansion was burnt to the ground.

It was almost like he had never come back from his seven year disappearance.

No, that couldn't be right. Everything that he had worked for, everything he had lost and gained . . . it couldn't be just . . . gone.

Numbly he stood from his crouched position and made his way through the overgrown grounds to the small well that he had fallen down as a child.

The well was boarded up, but not with the new boards he had used when he had rebuilt. This wood was old and in several places rotted through. It took only a kick to send them clattering downward into the darkness.

Without pausing to consider what he was going to do if what he feared was true he jumped into the well. His fall was graceful and he landed in a crouch at the bottom, uninjured even though most normal humans would be.

The cave was dark. There was none of the equipment that he had brought down over the year and a half had he had been Batman. The cave was empty but for him and his nocturnal companions.

For the second time in his life, he knew that he was completely alone and this time, no one was coming to help him.

 **0~o~0**

 **Review?**

 **Thank you to my first reviewer on my last chapter. I'm glade for the encouragement and I hope you continue to enjoy this piece.**

 **On another note, I'd just like to say that I am not making the Joker like he is in** **The Dark Knight** ** _._** **Sorry to disappoint, but I'm going to incorporate more of the cartoon version of Joker (From** **The Batman** **) who is more . . . kid friendly. He is still going to be insane and nothing he does is going to make sense (when does it ever?) but he is not going to be all** ** _'I'm going to kill you in the most terrifying way possible'._**

 **To tell the truth, I don't see Joker as someone who seeks to kill. He's in it for the laughs but is willing to eliminate anyone in his way. As such, I'm going to keep the killing and description of Joker's victims at a minimum. Thank you for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy this story!**

 **Chapter 3 - Preview**

 ** _"I'm looking for a job, you wouldn't happen to have something here would you?"_**

 ** _The store owner looked over the younger man, seeming to be around twenty five but still young to the eighty-six year old, with a raised eyebrow. The cloths that the man wore appeared to be from a charity bin but the man himself was not scruffy. To tell the truth, the store owner had not expected someone like the young man to apply for a job here, "You do know that this is the Narrows, right kid?" he asked gruffly._**

 ** _The young man nodded and chuckled slightly, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Where else do you think I'm going to get a job looking like this?"_**

 ** _He had a fair point, the store owner conceded; the boy's appearance wouldn't get him passed the bridge into the higher levels of society. He felt kind of sorry for the young man._**

 ** _"One week. If you're a good worker then you stay. If not . . . well, you know the drill."_**

 ** _The young man nodded again, "Thank you. When do I start?"_**

 ** _The store owner considered him for a moment before grunting, "Right now."_**

 ** _0~o~0_**

 ** _Jackson twisted the pencil though his fingers quickly, "It . . . it seems as if the alternate time line was . . . drastically changed from our own. Maybe an important event, something that happened differently, created the . . . bat?"_**

 ** _Gordon's cheek twitched, "Doctor . . ."_**

 ** _"I don't know, ok?! Whatever we saw on that roof is_** **not** ** _something found in this world!" Jackson cried, the pencil snapping in his hands with a loud crack._**

 ** _Sighing, Gordon rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yes, I know. The fact that . . . the_** **bat** ** _, as you referred to him, got away so easily worries me."_**

 **'Even the Joker gets slightly nervous around a full force of police officers but this guy didn't even twitch,'** ** _went unsaid._** ****

 ** _Gordon focused his eyes back on Jackson, "We need to find him, and fast," he paused, considering, "In your opinion, Doctor, if you were a bat where would you go?"_**

 ** _"Um," Jackson blinked, "A . . . cave?"_**

 **0~o~0**

 **Review Review Review! Please?!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Protector in the Shadows**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any version of Batman.**

 **Chapter 3**

 **III**

 _"People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can't do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I am flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but as a symbol . . . as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting."_

 _-_ Batman Begins

 **III**

"I'm looking for a job, you wouldn't happen to have something here would you?"

The store owner looked over the younger man, seeming to be around twenty five but still young to the eighty-six year old, with a raised eyebrow. The cloths that the man wore appeared to be from a charity bin but the man himself was not scruffy. To tell the truth, the store owner had not expected someone like the young man to apply for a job here, "You do know that this is the Narrows, right kid?" he asked gruffly.

The young man nodded, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Where else do you think I'm going to get a job looking like this?"

He had a fair point, the store owner conceded, the boy's appearance wouldn't get him passed the bridge into the higher levels of society. He felt kind of sorry for the young man.

Course, in the Narrows one could never be too careful. With all the insane semi-humans running around there were few who could be trusted in these dark times. A boy with no one too look after him trying to find a job here was slightly suspicious. Most of those living in the Narrows turned to crime instead of trying to make an honest living.

But they do say that the eyes were the windows to the soul and he could only see honesty in the young man's eyes. He might as well give the boy a chance.

"One week. If you're a good worker then you stay. If not . . . well, you know the drill."

The young man nodded again, "Thank you. When do I start?"

The store owner considered him for a moment before grunting, "Right now."

0~o~0

"Darcy! I want a full report, anything we have on this . . . being. Doctor Howl, come with me," Gordon commanded as he strode purposefully down the darkened hallway toward his temporary office, as his old one had been blown up just two weeks before.

Jackson Howl swallowed nervously as he followed the aggravated commissioner. How was he supposed to know that they were just going to get another masked . . . thing? At least the machine had worked at all.

Though, maybe that wasn't such a good thing.

Jackson sat down in the seat across from Gordon, fidgeting with a pencil he always kept with him. Gordon focused his eyes on the younger man with a fierce glare.

"What happened," Gordon said, his voice calm though the storm behind his eyes showed that he was at the end of his patients.

Jackson twisted the pencil, "It . . . it seems as if the alternate time line was . . . drastically changed from our own. Maybe an important event, something that happened differently, created the . . . bat?"

Gordon's cheek twitched, "Doctor . . ."

"I don't know, ok?! Whatever we saw on that roof is not something found in this world!" Jackson cried, the pencil snapping in his hands with a loud crack.

Sighing, Gordon rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yes, I know. The fact that . . . the _bat_ , as you referred to him, got away so easily worries me."

 _'Even the Joker gets slightly nervous around a full force of police officers but this guy didn't,'_ went unsaid.

Gordon focused his eyes back on Jackson, "We need to find him, and fast," he paused, considering, "In your opinion, Doctor, if you were a bat where would you go?"

"Um," Jackson blinked, "A . . . cave?"

Gordon laced his fingers together, thoughtful, "Previous experience shows that people like him who wear masks will often try to find a place that most closely resembles what they represent. In this case, a cave."

Jackson nodded. He didn't know why he was still here. He had already done his part in operating the machine, but he guessed the commissioner was just bouncing his ideas off of someone else.

"Now, where in Gotham will we find a cave suitable for a human sized bat?" Gordon muttered.

Biting his lip and wondering if he should input his ideas Jackson interrupted, "What about the sewers? They are kind of like caves."

Gordon frowned before shaking his head, "No. The being that came through the portal was clean, something that the sewers are not. That and the cold and water are more suited for Croc, not a bat. There must be somewhere else, somewhere we are forgetting."

At that moment the door opened and Darcy walked in, a scowl on her face as she placed an extremely thin file down on Gordon's desk.

"Nothing. There is absolutely _nothing_ on this guy! He simply _doesn't exist_ on this world!" she growled in frustration.

Gordon raised on eyebrow, "Any hint of who he is under the mask?" he asked as he flipped the folder open. Inside was a blurry picture taken from one of the security cameras that had been on the roof with them. There was also a short description of what he looked and sounded like.

Darcy shook her head, throwing her hands in the air, "He comes, he goes, he vanishes. If I hadn't seen him with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed that he was real! There's no fingerprints, no DNA, no facial recognition, nothing! It's driving me batty!" she winced, "Ah, sorry, wrong thing to say in this circumstance."

"He's a professional, than," Gordon stated, reading through a report on the injuries cause to his men in the Bat's escape. There was nothing that could put an officer out of commission for more than a couple of hours. Even the hits to the head would only leave bruises and a massive headache, "Someone with resources and training."

Darcy's eyes lit up, "A former cop, maybe?"

Gordon nodded, still frowning, "It still wouldn't explain why he goes around dressed as a bat. What is his motivation, why was he like that when we pulled him through?"

Jackson glanced between the two before sighing, "May I be excused, now?"

Gordon glanced in his direction briefly and nodded sharply to him. Jackson quickly left, breathing a sigh of relief as the door closed behind him. After seeing the . . . being come from the portal he had no desire to stay here anymore. The Joker was bad, but he had a feeling that the Bat was going to be terrifying. The device that he had used was meant to pull someone stronger, better, and more intelligent than the Joker.

Which mean that the Bat would either help take down the crazy clown . . . or destroy Gotham when he realized where, exactly, he had been sent.

He planned to be long gone before the Bat found out he'd had any involvement in what had happened.

0~o~0

Night fell over the city like a suffocating blanket. Silence spread through the streets, even the criminals weary of drawing attention. In a city like Gotham anything could happen. Those that lived within its boarders had long since learned that if you drew attention you were asking for a death sentence. No one in power remained there for long.

The city had suffered for so long. Rot, chaos, and corruption was growing faster than it ever had. Through it all, anyone willing to help had been taken down swiftly and brutally, leaving their successors wary and scared.

It was on one of the tallest spires in the city that Bruce found refuge to think. His black cloak wrapped around him silently, hiding him in the darkness of night from prying eyes.

The moment that he had been forced through that portal he knew that something was wrong, something was different. A quick search through the internet as well as the differences in the city itself only confirmed his theory.

Rachel Dawes was killed by Dr. Crane when he dosed her with a high concentration of his fear gas. There was no antidote at that time and no one could save her.

Harvey Dent never became the White Knight of Gotham. He was killed when visiting his cousin who lived in the narrows at the time the League of Shadows had come through.

Bruce Wayne never grew up. He was killed along with his parents that night in the ally. The Wayne empire crumbled, leaving only the company to carry on the legacy.

Weeks ago the Wayne Manor, untouched for more than ten years, crumbled to dust under a raging inferno. The police couldn't be bothered to find out the cause.

Bruce, looking out over the darkened buildings and towering skyscrapers, felt his heart clench.

This was Gotham City alright, but it wasn't _his_ Gotham. His Gotham was protected by their shadowed Knight, shielded from most of the horror by his interference, but this Gotham had never heard of Batman.

Bruce had heard that it was theoretically possibly to travel to other dimensions. He had even heard talk about it around Wayne Enterprises and the possibility of building something like that could do it.

He'd never thought he'd be on the other end of things, being _summoned_ instead of being sent.

Even if they looked similar this was not his Gotham. His Gotham needed him and he needed to get home.

But first he needed to get some answers from the person who had created the machine that had pulled him from his home.

He needed to find Jackson Howl.

 **III**

 **I hope all of you that read this like this chapter. Just so you know, the next few chapters will be better and you'll see some 'Batman Action and Intimidation'.**

 **If you have time, please leave a review. Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Protector in the Shadows**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any version of Batman.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **IV**

 _"When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural."_

 _-_ Batman Begins

 **IV**

Bruce Wayne frowned as he laid out his equipment. A dozen smoke bombs, five mini explosion bombs, seven flash bombs, ten bola ropes, an extra grappling hook, and a few other odds and ends were all that he had stored in his belt. Without a steady supply it was barely enough to get him through two nights.

Sighing and rubbing the back of his neck with a black gloved covered hand Bruce glanced at his watch, which had, thankfully, keep working after he had been pulled through the portal.

The situation that he was in completely baffled him. He was no stranger to poverty, but to have everything taken from him in the matter of seconds was something that he hadn't prepared for, and he had a backup plan for almost everything.

His watch showed one o'clock in the morning, bedtime. His life as Batman had drastically changed his schedule over the years and as such he had become used to spending more time awake at night than he did when the sun was out. In truth, he was more like his nocturnal friends than most people had come to suspect. Even the sunlight had come to hurt his eyes to the point that he had always carried around sunglasses.

While the sleeping schedule was unusual he had become used to it and adjusted everything around it. It had helped that back in his Gotham he didn't have a real job he was required or even expected to show up to, not really. Being the head of Wayne Enterprises didn't count.

Here, though, things were different. Here Wayne Enterprises was a public company, had been ever since the entire Wayne family from here had been killed. There was no one to take the Wayne fortune and it had vanished into the chaos of what had happened. The Wayne legacy had been lost and no one had been there to save it, though he did wonder who ended up with it.

Though it annoyed him, he had been forced to get a job down near the narrows, where they wouldn't ask to many questions on where you came from or who you were. So long as you were a good worker they didn't usually care what you had done in the past. It would through him off a little, but it was a price he would have to pay for a steady income now that he didn't have his trust fund to save him.

With a groan Bruce stretched and stood, collecting his gear and strapping it into its correct places. As he had no other place to live, the cave had become his permanent base of operations until he could find his way back. It was cold and damp, but it was better than living on the streets. There was also plenty of room to make improvements and collect what he needed, if he was going to be here a while than he wasn't going to live in a dump.

Sighing he collapsed into the small, thin mattress he had pilfered from someone's garbage, they wouldn't be missing it, and promptly fell into a restless sleep.

0~o~0

Jonathan Vane glanced up as the door jingled in time to see his new employee walk in. He raised his eyebrow in surprise as he looked over the young man. After yesterday he really hadn't expected the kid to show up a second time. Maybe he really did want the job and not just a quick paycheck.

"You're late," Jonathan grunted glancing at the old and rusting clock that hung on his wall, "I opened about ten minutes ago," _not that anyone bothers to come in before ten in the morning around here._

"Good morning to you too," the kid grumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he tried to wake himself up more, "and it's not like I have an alarm clock to wake me up."

Jonathan laughed and through a rage at the kid who caught it out of the air with little thought, "I like ya kid. The counters need wiping down in the back and then there are some boxes that need to be brought in before the scavengers get to them. Water is in the sink, buckets under the counter, and if you want soap you're going to have to steal it from somewhere because we don't have any."

"Oh, ha ha," the kid's voice echoed through the small store as he stepped into the back room to start wiping down the tables in the back. The book store was small but modest and if it had been situation further into the more wealthy districts then it would have been thriving, but as it was not that many cared for books down in the narrows. It did make a nice place to rest though, and Jonathan often had a cup of something for those cold days when the residents were forced out of the rain and had enough money to buy something warm to drink. "Get caught stealing just for a peace of soap? No thank you."

Jonathan chuckled again as he turned back to organizing the old books on the dusty shelves. The books were his pride and joy. Back when he was younger he had dreamed of becoming a famous author but of course it's a little harder than it seems and over time he had lost his drive to write though the ideas still came.

He wondered if the kid liked books too. Probably not, but one could wonder.

There was a sudden creek and a splash of water followed by a soft bout of cursing that had Jonathan turning his head in question. The kid was glaring at his sink with a scowl, soaked from head to waist.

"What happened," he asked mildly, glad that none of his books had been near the young man at the time.

The kid scowled, "Your sink hates me."

Jonathan shrugged, "That might be because you're the first person to try to turn it on in the past ten years."

The kid turned his glare at him, "And why didn't you tell me that?"

Jonathan couldn't hold back his grin, "Sometimes an old man needs to laugh too."

The young man continued to scowl for a couple moments before he relaxed slightly and sighed, "Should I fix it?"

"What, the sink?" Jonathan contemplated for a moment before he shook his head, "No, we don't have the parts for it. I usually just take the top off before I turn it on, so that it doesn't spray me."

"Now he tells me," the kid grumbled, picking up the rag he had dropped and putting in back in the now full bucket of water.

Jonathan hid his smile as he turned back to organizing, "Hay, kid," he paused, contemplating for a moment, "I never got your name."

The kid (it really wasn't fare to call a twenty-five year old that but what did he care?) paused for a second and Jonathan almost thought that he wasn't going to answer. Finally with a sigh the kid replied, "Call me Bruce."

It was better than nothing, "Nice you meet you Bruce. I'm Jonathan, or John if you prefer." The tired smile he got in return made him chuckle. "Now get back to work, rascal. I don't pay you to stand around."

0~o~0

Bruce sighed as he slipped into one of the darker alleyways. His first full day at work had been strange. He hadn't realized that the narrows had someone like Jonathan who both loved to laugh and play innocent pranks on his employee's. The man was, in a way, different from anyone that he had ever met but at the same time almost grandfather like.

As he reached the darkest part of the alley he pulled his bag off of his shoulder and brought out his grappling hook. He had left his armor on an inaccessible rooftop where only he could find it and, as it was nearing dark, he figured it was time to get to work.

His first set of business was to find out exactly _why_ he had been pulled into this universe. He doubted that someone like _the Batman_ was what they were expecting when they pulled him through, so the question was who _were_ they expecting? He was almost sure that it had something to do with the differences he had noticed in his first search through the internet. He needed answers, though, not assumptions, and it was best to get it from the source.

It was time he paid Gordon a visit.

With a near silent whoosh the bat shaped hook spiraled into the night and retracted, taking him with it into the sky.

From under a small blanket and unseen in the darkness of the alleyway a bearded homeless man could only stare at where the shadowed man had been just moments before, left wondering if he had finally cracked or if that man had really just _flown_.

0~o~0

Gordon grunted softly and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a habit he had picked up after years in the force. It had been two days, _two whole days,_ and there hadn't even been one sighting of a man in a giant bat costume. How hard was it to find someone like that? Apparently, it was a lot more difficult than he had thought.

Their cave theory turned out to be a bit harder to expound on then he had first thought, due to the sheer amount of caves riddling the underground of Gotham. Who knew that they had a giant cave system down there? If the Bat really was down there it would be like looking for a needle in a mountain of hay.

It was late, he knew, and his wife was probably worrying about him. The nights in Gotham had gotten a lot worse ever since that fear gas attack. The police force was overstretched as most of the officers were still recovering from being exposed to the gas. For some, the antidote had come too late and even then it didn't work completely. At time Gordon swore he saw things in the shadows that weren't really there. It made him and the rest of his remaining officers jumpy.

Sometimes he wondered if the Joker was a result of the fear gas.

Closing his eyes Gordon rolled his shoulders, knowing he should clean up and head home before it got too late but not wanting to get up. The machine had been used to help _stop_ their problems, not create new ones. He was regretting ever activating it.

The light over his head flickered and then went out with a pop, making Gordon glance up. Looks like he would need new bulbs, the old ones were already blowing out after only being on for a short while. Without the light the entire room had been plunged into darkness with only the faintest of outlines seen with what little light came through the window.

A cold breeze swept through the room and Gordon shivered. Had he left the window open?

Something cold pressed against the back of his neck and Gordon stiffened suddenly as his mind immediately flashed to the face that he was being held at gun point . . . again.

" _Don't move_ ," the dark, gravely voice was both familiar and terrifying.

"What do you want?" he silently cursed his voice for shaking in front of what could possibly be an enemy. From the way that the Bat had reacted on the rooftop two nights ago he had assumed that his counterpart worked alongside this creature of the night, but he had been wrong before.

 _"You brought me here for a reason; I want to know why,"_ the Bat spoke softly, but the deadly intent and pressure of the cold metal on his neck were all the warning he needed to not call for help.

Gordon gulped, gripping his hands together to keep them from shaking. Why hadn't he kept his gun in arms reach? "W-we needed someone to help defeat the Joker, a new villain running around. I've only got half of the police force currently active and most of that half is completely terrified of him. T-the machine was meant to bring someone who could help us here, but it wasn't specific on _who_ it would bring."

 _"The Joker?"_

Was it his imagination or did the Bat just get a lot angrier?

"That's what he calls himself," Gordon replied, desperately searching for something that could help him get out of the situation. He had a gun in the bottom drawer of his desk, but he was unsure if he could reach it in time or if the masked man behind him would see him move. Even if he could get a hold of the gun, though, there was only one escape he could use: the door.

Come to think of it, how had the Bat got in here in the first place? They were about thirty stories above the ground and it was too far between this building and the next to jump from one building to the next.

Of course, there was the possibility that he flew.

The silence was almost worse then the voice. It pressed down on him and forced the air out of his lungs little by little. He needed to talk, to say something.

"Do you know him? From . . . where you come from?" Gordon asked and then winced as the metal at his neck twisted slightly.

 _"The Joker is unpredictable and unplanned. He doesn't care for money or even his own life. What he craves is the attention and he will do anything to get it,"_ the Bat paused for a moment, _"If left unchecked, the Joker wouldn't care if he took down Gotham with him, so long as there is suffering and he is the cause of it."_

Gordon shivered at the ominous words, his eyes widening slightly. It had almost sounded like the Bat had lived through it already.

Which he probably had lived through it, now that Gordon thought about it. Is that what had created the Bat?

"What are you going to do?" Gordon asked.

There was silence again for a few seconds before the Bat seemed to shift slightly, _"I promised that I would protect Gotham from people like him. Even though this is not_ my _home, it is still a version of it,"_ the metal at his neck was suddenly gone, _"Be ready, the Joker never comes quietly."_

Gordon had spun around the moment he had been freed, his hand going to his side holster, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Bat and to stop him from getting away.

"Freeze!" Gordon shouted, only to hesitated and lower the small gun as he glanced around in the darkness of his office.

The room was empty. He was alone.

The Bat's last words echoed through his mind though, chilling him to the bone.

 _"The Joker never comes quietly."_

What had they gotten themselves into?

 **IV**

 **Thanks to all of you who read and reviewed the last chapter.**

 **If you see any typos please tell me, they are really hard to find and no matter how many times I run through this I will never be able to get them all.**

 **Next Chapter:**

 **The Joker makes his first appearance.**

 **Review!?** ** _Please?_**


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